A quick post about a puzzle called Wordle that is currently taking over the internet. It’s a mastermind-like game where the object is to guess an unknown 5-letter word. Puzzlers are encouraged to share their results after completing a puzzle. Here is an example for puzzle 192. So how do ...

As 2021 draws to a close, it’s time to check back in on a previous post. As a recap, Garmin Connect offered four challenges to run 3 x 505 km and 1 x 505 km, one in each of the four quarters of 2021. Completing all four would mean running 2021 km in 2021. I […]

The aim of this post is to look at revisions of bioRxiv preprints. I’m interested how long preprint versions exist on bioRxiv. In other words: how long do revisions to preprints take? The data from bioRxiv is a complex dataset with many caveats as I’ll explain further down, ...

This post is an update of a previous analysis on quantixed. We have covered publication lag times – the time it takes for a paper go from submitted (received) to accepted and published – a lot on here. It is possible to look at lag times, in R using data from PubMed. ...

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, different countries are experiencing various restrictions including lockdowns. Some of these restrictions alter our ability to do science: by hindering lab access or taking time away from researchers for homeschooling. So, what impact has the pandemic had on scientific output? One way to look at ...

The scientific response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been astounding. Aside from efforts to generate vaccines, the genomic surveillance of the virus has been truly remarkable. For example, the nextstrain project has sequence many SARS-CoV-2 genomes. In fact, the rapid identification of multiple new strains and mutations by diverse groups ...

Many running races and events have been cancelled or disrupted due to the pandemic. To fill the void, I’ve been taking on Garmin’s “Challenges”. In Garmin Connect, you can accept a challenge set by Garmin (I think users can challenge each other too). Completion of these challenges gives ...

Here is a fun post about using colour palettes in R. It starts with a computer game… After a few years of sporadically playing Super Mario World 2 – Yoshi’s Island on the Retropie, I made it to the final level. In the background, as Bowser approached, I noticed that those ...

During the pandemic, many virtual seminar programmes have popped up. One series, “Motors in Quarantine“, has been very successful. It’s organised by my colleagues Anne Straube, Alex Zwetsloot and Huong Vu. Anne wanted to know if attendees of the seminar series were a fair representation of the field. We ...

Joe Friel reposted an article earlier this year on Efficiency Factor in running. Efficiency Factor (EF) can be viewed in Training Peaks software and he describes how it is calculated. This post describes how I went about calculating EF in R using a single gpx file. What is Efficiency Factor (...

I’m a long-term fan of Weezer. Such was the brilliance of their first two albums that I have stuck with them through thick and thin. And dear me, there has been some very thin music. Nonetheless I own every album – thirteen of them. Among them are six albums entitled “...

I am giving a talk next week and wanted to update some plots from an old analysis that previously featured on quantixed. The question is: how long does it take for a paper get published? The answer is complex (as previously discussed on quantixed), but we can at least find ...

When a preprint is uploaded to bioRxiv, it undergoes screening before it appears online. How long does it take for Affiliates to screen preprints at bioRxiv? tl;dr I used R to look at bioRxiv screening times. Even though bioRxiv has expanded massively, screening happens quickly (in about 24 h). I ...

As part of the series on development of early career researchers in the lab, we spent three sessions over three weeks learning the basics of R. In my book “The Digital Cell”, I advocate R as the main number-crunching software but the R literacy in my lab is actually quite ...

This post follows on from the last post on BBSRC Responsive Mode funding. Another frequent question from applicants is: “How much can I ask for?” One answer is: the same amount as successful grants. This information is freely available and can be downloaded from the UKRI website. All awarded grants ...

There is an entertaining rumour going around about the journal Nature Communications. When I heard it for the fourth or fifth time, I decided to check out whether there is any truth in it. The rumour goes something like this: the impact factor of Nature Communications is driven by physical ...

A while back I visited Artistes & Robots in Paris. Part of the exhibition was on the origins of computer-based art. Nowadays this is referred to as generative art, where computers generate artwork according to rules specified by the programmer. I wanted to emulate some of the early generative artwork I ...

Garmin Connect has a number of plots built in, but to take a deeper dive into all your fitness data, you need to export a CSV and fire up R. This post is a quick guide to some possibilities for running data.  There’s a few things that I wanted ...